Clogged main drain?

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G

Gnarbrah

Well-known member
Apr 24, 2022
108
Florida
Hi all - my parents just bought a house in my neighborhood and it has good sized pool. Probably late 70s vintage.
They haven't moved in yet so I went over to check out the setup and noticed the pool was getting mustard algae.
I dumped in a couple gallons of chlorine and went to try and figure out the pump setup.
It has the inground "caretaker" jets in lieu of the standard wall returns and no matter what I did I couldn't get them to do anything. The only wall returns for the pool are in the built in hot tub that spills over into the pool.
I took the unions off above the caretaker and the screen was completely blocked. Cleaned it and things started working. Yay!

Now the problem - as I was messing with the valves to get more pressure out of the in ground jets I noticed NOTHING going into the main drain in the pool.
I turned the valve to close off the skimmer completely and noticed the hot tub level going down quickly and starting to make a whirl pool. Best I can tell is the main drain in the hot tub is the only thing supplying water back to the pump and the pool main drain isn't doing anything.

Any thoughts of what I can try?

**Edit - so I just went and grabbed these pictures and noticed the return to the pump says skimmer and "Spa" main drain - where does the pool main go???
 

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Last edited:
At the pad, there is no pool MD line coming into the pump so most likely it is plumbed through the skimmer.

Look into the skimmer bottom and see if there is a second line plumbed.

If clogged, you can flush it backwards from that point.
 
G,

Thanks for the skimmer pic..

Normally, main drains on old pools were connected to the bottom of the skimmer.. That would be at the pipe with the plug in it..

When you see the plug in the skimmer, you normally see the main drain plumbed back to the equipment pad, but it is obvious, looking at the your pump's inputs, that the main drain is not connected there.

My issue is that most In-Floor-Cleaning-Systems (IFCS) use the main drain... :scratch:

Some IFCS have a separate leaf catcher basket located near the equipment pad.. or in the pool deck.. Look around and see what else you can find..

Show us some pics of the whole equipment pad...

Let's see if @proavia has an inputs..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
From the pics, it appears the main drain is plumbed thru the skimmer - however, the main drain is plugged at the skimmer. It's possible there was a main drain leak and the main drain may also be plugged under the drain covers in the bottom of the pool as well.

The popups will still work as returns - as long as the screen in the water valve is kept clean. The debris that would normally be picked up by the main drain will just get moved around the pool instead of eventually finding its way into the main drain..

How is the pool presently being vacuumed?
 
Here's a pic of the equipment pad. Don't see any additional leaf collection baskets (other than on the pump).

Presently it is NOT being vacuumed! I'll bring my hose and vacuum over and do it manually until they get a robotic cleaner.

Couple more questions/concerns I noticed. I currently have the suction side 100% from the skimmer but the flow into the skimmer seems very slow for some reason. The pump stays fully primed and the return pressure is very good. It just seems like the skimmer would be pulling a LOT more. Is this weird?

Also, any idea what the pipe going down with the check valve in front of the caretaker is?

IMG_6399.jpgIMG_6401.jpg
 
Given this is in FL and screened in, the PB was probably just relying on only sand and fine debris to be in the pool and if the MD was actually working, then it may have worked ok at one time. But without a MD now, the floor jets are not going to be very effective at cleaning and based on the pictures, it appears to be that way.

If the MD was leaking, they would have had to seal the pipe on both sides to prevent leaking so it might be quite a bit of work to get it working again.
 
G,

I suspect that the pipe before the IFCS dome is for return water from the spa when the cleaner is on.. But I really know nothing about IFCS systems so I could well be wrong (again!!).. :mrgreen:

Does the skimmer have an operating weir door??? Without a weir door you don't see a lot of motion looking down into the skimmer.

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Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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